Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1

by D. J. Pierson

  “What’s wrong?” I panic.

  “T-that’s a boat,” she stutters.

  “Last time I checked.”

  “I can’t get on a boat.”

  “Why not?”

  “I get seasick.” She takes a step backward.

  “What? How does a swimmer get seasick? You’re from Florida. Isn’t it in your blood or some shit to like the water?”

  “I like the water just fine, as long as I’m not on a boat.”

  Fuck! Way to think this through, genius. I throw my crap onboard and walk over to where she’s standing. Holding her, I say, “The water is calm today. I already checked and I’m good at this. You’ll be fine. If you start to feel sick, I’ll distract you.”

  She sighs. “I’m feeling sick just thinking about it.”

  “Really?” I ask. My lips run along her jawline until they reach her ear. She’s now gripping my forearms as if she’s going to fall over. “Still feel sick?”

  “Yes,” she breaths out. The way she talks when she’s turned on should be illegal. Fuck fishing.

  I lift her up and carry her onboard. She doesn’t protest, only allows her tongue to roam over my neck. Knowing the steps leading below deck tend to be slippery even when they aren’t wet, I carefully take them one at a time. I lower her down to dig the keys out of my pocket. How hard is it to get a fucking door open? Seeing that I’m having trouble with the lock, she takes the key from me and easily unlocks it. I push the door open and turn the light on so Kacie can see where she’s going. She takes in the space and turns back to me. “Did you only do that to distract me long enough so I’d get on this stupid boat?”

  “No. I did it to get you in that bed.” I nod in the direction where it is.

  “I almost had to kick your ass,” she says, reaching by me to turn the light back off.

  Our first time did not go how I had imagined it would. Don’t get me wrong. It was amazing, but my girl deserves better than being held up against a wall. I need to make up for it. Dawn is starting to break, so it’s not completely dark in here. The features of her face are just about visible in the soft light. Gently, I guide her the few feet to the edge of the bed. Her hands run up the front of my chest along the buttons of my work shirt. She takes her time with each and every damn one of them until she’s able to slide my shirt off my shoulders. Then, even slower, she slides my tank top up over my head and drops it to the floor. Feeling her hands on my skin makes it hard to remember how this time is supposed to be different.

  I slip a finger under each side of her shirt and raise it even more slowly than she did with my buttons. She doesn’t try to rush me, but I didn’t miss her biting into her bottom lip. My lips find their way down the side of her neck, causing her head to tilt back. I reach a hand up to support it for her. My lips continue on down to her shoulder, where my teeth pick up the strap of her bra. I’m pretty sure she inhales sharply when my other hand unclasps it behind her, but my attention is suddenly diverted elsewhere.

  After lifting her up, I place one knee on the bed and gently lay her head on the pillows. For a while, I worship her. Every fucking delicious part of her. I admire every muscle in her body and every damn noise that comes out of her mouth I commit to memory. More light is starting to trickle into the small room, helping me to see the look in her eyes. Just when I think she’s going to let go, Kacie sits up and twists to get me underneath of her.

  “What are you doing? You were just going to…” She cuts me off, but I knew she would. Kacie is as foulmouthed as they come, but she gets embarrassed as hell when I talk about this shit. Any other time, it would be hilarious.

  “Not without you,” she whispers as her hair falls in my face. “Now just shut up and deal with it.”

  I want to tell her no and finish what I started, but I keep my mouth closed and surrender control. She probably needs to do this the same way I did. The only problem is, I will never last as long as she did. When I’m as close as I’m willing to let myself get, I stop her from torturing me and search for my bag that I had kicked down the steps on our way in here. Something told me to throw the box of condoms from my room in there. Thank goodness I did. Before long, we are both sweaty, out of breath, and spent. Kacie nuzzles into my side and lays her head on my chest. I pull the light blanket over her, then wrap my arm around her back as I kiss the top of her head.

  “That is more like how our first time should have been,” I say into her hair.

  She tilts her head back to look at me. I don’t like the expression on her face. “Don’t say that. I absolutely loved our first time and would never change anything about how it happened.”

  “Kacie…”

  “Don’t you Kacie me. You didn’t like it?”

  “You’re totally misunderstanding me,” I explain, rubbing the tips of my fingers along her bare back. “It was fucking amazing and I’ll end up trying to follow you every time you go shopping to repeat it, but you deserve better than that.”

  “Just worry about what I like and not about what you think I deserve,” she mumbles, settling back next to me.

  I start chuckling. “Will you ever stop shocking the shit out of me?”

  “You’d get bored if I did.”

  “You’re probably right,” I admit.

  “Are you still going to fish?” she wonders, yawning.

  “No. You wore me out. How about we just take a nap instead?”

  “You know we could have had the same outcome back at the house, right?”

  “Yeah, but the next time you go to get on a boat, you won’t be thinking about being seasick.”

  She giggles. “No, I won’t.”

  When we get up, it’s late morning. “I really need to eat something,” I announce, realizing I haven’t eaten a damn thing since sometime last night. Remembering my aunt and uncle are home, I know where to go. This way, I’ll get a home cooked meal and they can meet Kacie. Perfect. “Will you go somewhere with me?”

  “It’s not another boat, is it?”

  “No.” I roll my eyes. “Meg told me her parents are home and I should stop by. They can’t wait to meet you.”

  She sits up, unfortunately holding the blanket over the front of her chest. “You want me to meet your aunt and uncle? Right now?”

  “Why wouldn’t I want you to meet them?”

  “I’m a mess. I can’t meet them looking like this.”

  “What are you talking about? You’re beautiful.”

  “Evan, if you want me to meet your family, you need to take me home and let me shower first.”

  “Take a shower here,” I offer.

  “I don’t have the stuff to wash or fix my hair with me.”

  “Fine,” I give in, getting out of bed to get dressed. “We don’t have to go there today, but will you please come with me to meet them soon?”

  Kacie visibly relaxes. Why would she stress so bad over meeting my family? “Yes, I would love to meet them.”

  ***

  The last few days have pretty much gone the same way. I wake up earlier than I should to go spend the day with Kacie until it’s time to go to work. There’s absolutely nothing else I’d rather be doing. I don’t see any way this could possibly get old, either. The only problem I have is that tomorrow is Kacie’s birthday and Jade still hasn’t told her about the party. She says there hasn’t been a good time yet and not to worry. I’m hoping she knows what the hell she’s doing. Kacie hasn’t even so much as mentioned her birthday.

  As much as I don’t want to bring it up, I have to. She has to know I haven’t forgotten. We are sitting on her front step, cooling down from our morning run, when I finally get the courage to say something. “Did you decide what you want to do tomorrow?”

  Kacie looks up at me. “No, actually, I haven’t even thought about it. I’m sorry.”

  “No big deal,” I blow it off. If Jade drags me under the bus with her for this, I will be sure to make the rest of her life a living hell.

  “Were you able to
get someone to work for you?”

  “My uncle’s back. I don’t have to worry so much anymore,” I tell her, looking down at the water bottle in my hand. “Besides, he’s so grateful that I ran the club and kept Meg in line while he was away, he’d probably give me off for the next two months if I asked.”

  This makes Kacie smile. “Meg’s not that bad.”

  “She can be. Don’t let her sweet face fool you.”

  Kacie stands up. “I’m going to swim a few laps. Want to come in with me?”

  I follow her lead and walk into the house. Before she goes up the stairs to change, I stop her. “What’s wrong?” She’s obviously down about something today. It’s hard seeing her this way. “Is it because of spending tomorrow without Gram?”

  “It is. I’m sorry. I guess it seems pretty ridiculous.” She diverts her eyes to the floor, but I lift up her chin.

  “It’s not ridiculous at all. I understand exactly how you feel. I’ve spent my last six birthdays doing the same thing. It feels wrong to be happy knowing Ethan should be here celebrating with me.”

  “He was way too young. It must be so much worse for you.”

  “Their ages don’t matter, Kacie. We loved them more than we loved ourselves. It hurts just the same.”

  We are interrupted by the sound of Kacie’s phone ringing from the table by the front door. She goes over to answer it. “Who the hell is this?” she questions, but answers it anyway. “Hello?” Whoever it is, she clearly isn’t thrilled to be speaking to them. “What do you want?” I watch as she squeezes her eyes closed with a look of stress and rubs her head. “Fine. What time will you pick me up?” Her phone gets tossed back on the table without a goodbye.

  “Who was that?”

  “Sean.”

  Anger immediately begins to roll through me. “Why’s he calling you?”

  “This Saturday is the gala I told you about. I completely forgot.”

  “You’re not going.” Now I’m imagining my girl going on a date with this fucker and I’m going to lose it.

  “Evan, I don’t have a choice. My parents need to see me there with him. I don’t like it any more than you do. Trust me.”

  “You’re not going anywhere with him. End of story,” I growl.

  “Excuse me?” she snaps.

  “I told you we would deal with this together. You don’t have to play this little game of theirs. We’ll find a way.”

  “You think this is some kind of game?!” she yells. How the hell did this become an argument between the two of us?

  “To them, it is a fucking game, Kacie! You’re just another pawn they get to move around and do whatever the fuck they want with!”

  “This is not a game to me! This house is not a game!”

  “This house gives them control over you. Either let them have it and move the hell on, or fight for it!”

  “What did you just say?” She’s taken back by the outburst that I didn’t mean. I’m too worked up to apologize, even though that’s exactly what I should be doing.

  “What have you done for yourself?” She doesn’t answer. “I’ve told you how I’m willing to help you and, yet, you still haven’t done a damn thing other than whatever the fuck your parents want you to do. Why is that, Kacie? What about what I want? Do I mean anything to you? Or do I not treat you shitty enough to matter?”

  “That’s not fair,” she says, stunned.

  “Not fair? How fair is it that you want me to sit back and do nothing while some douche bag takes you to whatever the fuck this thing is?”

  “You are overthinking it!” She’s back to yelling. “I’ll be there and back before you even make your first trip around the club!”

  “No!”

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do!”

  “Oh, that’s right. Only Sean and your parents get to do that!” My heart is telling me to shut the fuck up and beg for her forgiveness, but that’s not what my ego insists on doing. I rush by her and out the front door, slamming it behind me. The worst part is, I don’t even look back.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kacie

  Happy birthday to me!

  Seriously? What the hell is so fucking happy about it? Absolutely nothing, that’s what. Not only is Gram not here to celebrate with me, but neither is Evan. Honestly, I’m not sure I even want him around right now. At least part of me would rather not see him after the way he pissed me off yesterday. Who does he think he is, yelling and carrying on, then walking out on me? He has no idea how to deal with my parents, nor does he have any fucking idea what I’d do to keep this house. I specifically remember telling him that we couldn’t be together because I’d never be able to give him all of me until this problem was resolved. The real kick in the ass is that we’ve only known each other for two weeks. Two damn weeks! Does he really expect me to throw away the only thing connecting me to my grandmother, who has been a huge part of my life since the day I was born?

  On the other hand, in only two weeks’ time, Evan Pierce has broken down every wall, every safeguard I’ve held in place to keep people out. How the hell was he able to do that? Even as a kid, it took months before I felt comfortable enough to let Jade in. With Jake, it was more like years. Nate…well, I never really let him in. But Evan broke right through and I never even realized it was happening. Not until he left my house, slamming the door in my face as I tried to stop him from walking away from me. A pain tore through my chest while I sat there for an hour or so, waiting for him to come back. He never did. No text. No phone call. Nothing. He was just gone.

  Waves of guilt, anger, and sorrow have been rolling through me since all this happened. During one of my stints with guilt, I called and left a message for Sean, which he still hasn’t returned. I’ve decided not to go to the gala this weekend. The repercussions of such a decision will most likely be along the lines of starting an all-out war, complete with bloodshed, heavy artillery, and many casualties. Half of the reason is Evan but, at this point, that may not even matter. The other half is simply because I hate Sean. If my parents want a battle with me, they’re going to have to use something better than Dr. Douche Bag.

  All morning, I stayed busy to keep my mind off of this shit. My run was about double what I normally do. When I got back, I jumped in the pool for more than a few laps. After that, I showered and started tearing apart my bedroom closet. I filled three bags of clothes to take to the women’s shelter where Gram and I used to volunteer. The goal was to remain preoccupied so I wouldn’t notice when the time was eleven after ten. Every year at the time I was born, Gram would wish me a happy birthday, whether in person or over the phone. Last year, she knocked on my apartment door at college while I held the phone in my hand, waiting for it to ring. She flew over a thousand miles to spend a couple of days with me. I was just thankful I was alone that morning. It would have been bad if I had to sneak out some random guy.

  Unfortunately, when I look down at my phone, it reads 10:10. Shit! If it had only been two more minutes, I would have been okay. Now, I’m stuck staring at it, dreading the change, but unable to look away. Every time the phone begins to fade, I hit the button to bring it back to the home screen. Then the zero changes to a one. If there was one minute out of the whole year I could erase, it would be this one. My lungs refuse to function while time seems to freeze. I can hear her voice, although sometimes it’s hard to remember exactly what it sounded like, wishing me happiness for another year of wonderful things to come. I’m begging for time to move on and release me from the agony. Before it has the chance, I’m startled by a text breaking through the stillness of my room.

  Happy birthday! Didn’t want you to think I forgot.

  Without even knowing it, Evan turned an awful moment in time into a tolerable one. I don’t text him back right away. I’m not in the right frame of mind for that. Besides, I don’t want him thinking I’m sitting around, waiting for him to call.

  A half-hour later, I’m getting ready to go out to the garden wi
th a book when my phone rings. Seeing it’s Jade, I answer. “Hey.”

  “Happy birthday!” my best friend practically sings.

  “Thank you,” I respond, perhaps sounding a little glum.

  “None of that,” she tells me. “We talked about this last night. Evan will realize he was being an ass, and come crawling back on his hands and knees. You will make him grovel for a long ass while and then, and only then, will you live happily ever after. So knock your shit off. Right now.” Last night, Jade came over after work and I told her what happened. She immediately took my side but, in her subtle way, pointed out what I had already concluded. That I should have considered Evan’s feelings when I didn’t even hesitate to say I’d be going to the stupid gala.

  “We’ll see. It’s just a rough day, all the way around.”

  “I know. That’s why I’m calling. I want you to come to the office and have lunch with me.”

  “I don’t know, Jade…” I begin to tell her.

  “I wasn’t really asking, in case you didn’t notice. The food will be here by 11:30. Don’t be late or I will be forced to come get you.” She disconnects without saying goodbye. That’s her way of having the last word. Instead of going out into the yard, I hike myself back up the stairs to change my clothes. I settle for a light blue sundress and sandals before making my way over to Jade’s office.

  The two-story brick building is pretty old, but very well-maintained with beautiful landscaping. It has been the home of Spencer and Spencer law firm for decades. Mary and her husband were the original partners, but after his passing, their oldest son joined the practice. Last I heard, her grandson also joined the family business.

  After parking my car in the visitors section of the lot, I enter the office through the front glass doors. The waiting area is decorated with comfortable chairs for clients, a television, potted plants, and the desk of my best friend. She stands up and comes over to greet me as I walk in.